Hairbrushing and Other Such Things
by Backroads
Summary: En route to stealing a rare mood dragon, a couple of princesses have a chat.  Pure book.


_Just a little something for fun. It's pure book, not a single movie reference, so please keep that in mind._

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><p>Very small blonde girls just weren't made to capture dragons.<p>

For one thing, they were small. While smallness could suggest an ability to dodge dragon blows with impressive sprightliness, there just wasn't much a little girl could do when faced with a Hideous Zippleback or a Whispering Death.

Camicazi wasn't stupid, nor did she possess any confusion about her size. She knew far better than bothering to attack a Whispering Death at her age. In another year, when she was twelve, she would feel much more confident attacking a Whispering Death. Even she knew enough that an eleven-year-old girls did not attack big dragons.

Another reason was the blonde hair. Apparently blonde hair was far too noticeable. It attracted the dragons and made it nearly impossible to sneak up on them.

But Camicazi had spent her entire life resisting such things as haircuts and brushes. If her hair was a problem, well, she would just have to act like a true barbarian and find a way around it.

And finally, very small blonde girls were often incapable of steering their mothers' boats.

But that didn't matter to Camicazi. She might have crashed a boat into an island much too far away from home. She might have placed a rather large and gaping hole in the hull of that boat. She might have no way to get back home. Never mind those. Such things didn't bother Bog-Burglars.

Besides, when Camicazi had a goal, nothing stopped it. She had a very large stolen knife far too big for her and a desire to capture a rare Mood Dragon.

Everyone knew rare Mood Dragons only lived on one island. Few people knew they were claimed by the Chieftain Ug.

Camicazi was one of those few people, but she didn't care.

She crept onto shore, her messy hair drenched from the bit of swimming she had to do, knife ready at her side. It was exactly the middle of the night, if her timing was correct, and a mostly-full moon lit up the island beautifully.

Everyone said Mood Dragons were hard to capture. Hard. Hah. Hard was for people who were not Camicazi. She was a very small blonde girl, and everyone knew very small blonde girls could move very quietly, especially at night. So she crept through the trees, her feet not making a sound, silent as befitting any Bog-Burglar.

Now where to find a rare Mood Dragon?

She didn't want to admit it, but now that she was on the Uglythug Island, she wasn't sure if she wanted to be there. It wasn't quite a full moon, which meant there wasn't quite as much moonlight as she had thought.

The trees were rather frightening in the dark.

But she shook the fear away. She ran a hand through her mess of blonde hair, took a deep breath, and continued.

She should have brought fish. Dragons loved fish.

But there was no fish to be had, so she had to try as she could. Listen and look.

And at last she heard it, the telltale crunch of feet on fallen leaves.

Camicazi raised her knife, her heart pounding and a laugh in her throat. This was it. A rare Mood Dragon.

Except it wasn't a Mood Dragon. Not even another sort of rare dragon. Not a dragon at all.

It was a girl, a tall red-haired girl a few years older than Camicazi. And she did not look very happy.

Camicazi sighed and lowered the knife. How intensely disappointing.

"Who are you?" the red-haired girl demanded.

A girl would ask her, princess of the Bog-Burglars, who she was? Camicazi was afraid of no girl. "I should be asking you the same question."

The girl frowned and put her hands to her hips. She was quite pretty and looked like she bothered with such things as brushing her hair. "No, you shouldn't. Because this is my island."

Camicazi laughed. "Bog-Burglars can take on Uglythugs any day of the week. I don't care if this is your island. I doubt it is. Is your name on it?"

"It doesn't have to be. It belongs to my father and I'm going to tell him you're trespassing on it."

Trespassing. Such a silly word, such an overreaction. She rolled her eyes and replied "I'm going to leave soon enough and you can have your boring old island."

"I don't want it," said the other girl. "It's my father's. When I grow up, I'm going marry Humongously Hotshot the Hero and sail off with him and have lots of adventures. Like knocking over volcanoes and discovering America."

Camicazi decided this girl was extremely stupid. "Everyone knows America isn't real."

"Of course it is. Where do you think potatoes come from?" She sighed. "I don't know why I'm talking to you. I'm a princess and I shouldn't have to talk to you."

Were all princesses so obnoxious? Camicazi was a princess and she surely wasn't so awful. "Oh, yeah? My mom is a chieftain and that makes me a princess."

"Oh." The girl's scowl flipped to a smile. She looked much friendlier when she smiled. "I didn't know you were a princess." She held out her hand for an arm wrestling match—a very polite way of barbarian greeting. "My name is Princess Tantrum. I suppose if you aren't going to be here very long I won't tell my father."

"Camicazi."

It turned out that neither girl was very good at arm wrestling, and the match ended in a draw.

"So why are you here, Camicazi?" Princess Tantrum asked as she massaged her sore arm.

Camicazi supposed she could trust another princess. "I want a Mood Dragon of my very own."

"Mood Dragons?" Princess Tantrum bit her lip. "My father hates it when people take the Mood Dragons. He thinks they're his."

"Aren't they?"

"You obviously have never met a Mood Dragon. You don't own a Mood Dragon. If they like you, they may grace you with the privilege of being in their presence. That's it."

"Oh." That notion made Camicazi like Mood Dragons much more. "I like a dragon that has some self-respect. My mom once stole a stealth dragon, and they're ridiculously obedient. Shameless."

"I already have people that do everything I want them to do," Princess Tantrum said. "I don't need a dragon to do that." She pointed down the woods. "If you take that trail all the way to the spring, you'll find where some like to sleep. Get them while they're asleep."

"Everyone knows that!" Camicazi scoffed.

Princess Tantrum shrugged. "I'm sure they do, but no one actually follows that logic."

"Thanks." Camicazi set down the trail.

"May I ask you a question?"

The little blonde girl turned around.

Princess Tantrum was staring at her in fascination. "How come you never brush your hair?"

A simple enough answer. "Because I hate brushing it."

"Oh. I always brush mine."

"It's very pretty."

"Thank-you. I like yours, too."

Camicazi hesitated another moment. "Are Mood Dragons easy to catch?"

"If they like you. One of them speaks Norse. I've talked with her many times. I like her. I think she would like you."

"Have you ever caught one?" The moon seemed a little bit brighter now that she had talked with someone.

Princess Tantrum laughed. "Only the small and medium-sized ones. I'm not old enough to capture the really big ones yet. But I do want to attack a Whispering Death one of these days."

Nice to know she wasn't the only girl that wanted to do such things, Camicazi thought. "Me, too." She started down the path.

"If you are gone by morning," Princess Tantrum called. "I promise I won't tell my father."

"Thanks!" Camicazi called back.

Though if she didn't find a way to get off the island, she was going to be in a lot of trouble.

If princesses were as similar they seemed, Princess Tantrum would tattle in the morning.

Camicazi knew she would, were the tables turned.

She decided she liked this girl.

**The End!**


End file.
